CANBERRA has climbed its way to become the second most expensive capital city to buy a home behind Sydney, new data reveals.

It comes as the capital hit a record-high median house price of $1.178 million, according to data from property group Domain.

House prices leaped 11.3 per cent over the December quarter, the largest quarterly growth on record.

Overall, prices for houses in the ACT grew by 37 per cent throughout 2021, an increase of more than $300,000.

Unit prices slightly declined in the last quarter of 2021, but were up by nearly 10 per cent for the year annually, the data showed.

The last time Canberra claimed the title as the second most expensive capital city to buy a house was in 2005.